Karaoke systems are typically used in social gatherings where people who like to sing their favorite songs are accompanied by music while the lyrics of the song are displayed and the voice of the participant is mixed with the music. As such gatherings take place at different locations, the availability of songs, the hardware that the songs are played on, and the settings used (e.g., volume, tempo, pitch) may vary from location to location. As a result, a karaoke participant may not find a song planned to be sung or may encounter system settings that are different from the settings that the participant wants. Under such conditions, the participant's performance may suffer or the participant may be prevented from performing.
A current approach to this problem requires that karaoke participants bring their own songs to the performance location in a format that can be used by the resident karaoke system. At the time of performance, the participant adjusts the system settings, such as microphone sensitivity, music volume, pitch, tempo and text displays, to fit the specific needs of the participant. These adjustments may be time consuming.
In another approach to this problem, a karaoke music file is modified before a performance, for example on a practice system, to reflect a user's performance preferences and stored on a portable medium. A disadvantage of this approach is that the music file itself is modified with one set of preferences, and as a result, it cannot be used by another performer who has a different set of preferences and needs.